State lawmakers revive automatic voter registration push

Wednesday

Mar 15, 2017 at 7:49 PM

Brian Robbinsof GateHouse Media Illinois

State lawmakers are moving a new version of a bill that would automatically register Illinoisans to vote.

Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, the main sponsor of Senate Bill 1933, said this year's bill would allow residents to immediately opt out of automatic voter registration when they get their driver's licenses renewed.

If passed, the new legislation would not take effect until July 1. 2018. According to Manar, this would give agencies that are affected "plenty of time to implement the changes."

Under this new bill, qualified residents would automatically be registered to vote when they visit the Illinois Secretary of State and other state agencies for services. Additionally, there would be checks in place to ensure no one is registered to vote who should not be.

Manar said these revisions came from Republican suggestions.

"This is a common-sense reform for state government that not only saves the state money, it increases voter participation and it modernizes our election system," Manar said. "As we saw last year, it can be complicated. But I believe the bill that has been introduced in the Senate today is a final version of what ought to receive wide bipartisan support and the support of Governor (Bruce) Rauner."

Rep. Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago, who is the main sponsor of a similar House bill, supports Manar's new legislation and believes it will make automatic voter registration a reality in Illinois.

"(This bill) is going to make this a smoother process, better for the voters in the polling place, better for the poll workers and better for the county clerks that have to oversee it," Fortner said.

On Wednesday, the bill passed the Senate Executive Committee by a vote of 10-3, meaning it goes back into the Senate for a second reading.

During Wednesday's committee hearing, the Secretary of State's Office expressed concerns about SB 1933, and said it would like to see automatic voter registration tie in with the office's implementation of the Real ID Act, ensuring that the state will know if a citizen is qualified for automatic voting registration.

The 2005 Real ID Act, a federal law, has tougher requirements for proof of legal U.S. residency in order for a citizen's driver's license to be valid. The Secretary of State's Office believes it will be Real ID-compliant by early 2018.

Last year's automatic voter registration bill had bipartisan support and passed both the Senate and the House. But Rauner vetoed it, arguing that the bill didn't have enough protections against voter fraud. Although the Senate managed to override the veto, the House didn't have enough votes.

In the United States, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Vermont, West Virginia and the District of Columbia have authorized automatic voter registration policies.